Rep. John Kline, the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, sent a letter to the White House asking President Barack Obama to publicly release the text of his back-to-school address to kids, to be delivered next week. (According to this Washington Post story, Obama already had planned to do just that). UPDATE: And indeed, the White House said today that the text of the speech will be available on Monday at whitehouse.gov. As you may know, some Texas districts have expressed qualms about letting kids listen, because of language in one of the lesson plans accompanying ...

By guest blogger Erik Robelen: As school districts, charter operators, and other nonprofits anxiously await further details from the Education Department on the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund, Congress appears disinclined to pony up much, if any, extra money down the road to keep the program going. President Obama had asked for an additional $100 million in fiscal 2010 to extend the program, first created under the federal economic-stimulus law earlier this year. The House responded by offering up all of $3 million in the budget bill for the Education Department it passed in late July. And that was ...

I'm sure your Friday was spent sifting through the hundreds of comments submitted for the Race to the Top program. Now that you've digested those, check out these good reads: *Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican from Minnesota who knows his stuff when it comes to education, is being talked up as a 2012 presidential candidate. (Nope, it's not too early to be talking about that.) *The recession is forcing some teacher furloughs, despite the $100 billion in stimulus aid for schools. *Politico has more whether Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., will decide to step into the chairmanship of the Senate ...